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Medium: Watercolor
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Create Texture
with Gradating Values
by Soon Y. Warren
This beautiful dog's name is Noorung-ee, which simply means "yellow dog." She is gentle and calm, a submissive dog. This demonstration shows the subtle gradation of value you can apply to create smooth as well as furry textures.
Noorung-ee
Watercolor on Arches 140-lb. (300gsm) cold press
21" x 29" (53cm x 74cm)
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Materials
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PAPER/Arches 140-lb. (300gsm) cold press paper
BRUSHES/nos. 4, 6, 8, 10 and 16 rounds; 3-1/2" (89mm) and 2-1/2" (64mm) hakes; old chopped brush
MASKING FLUID
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WATERCOLORS/
American Journey: Burnt Sienna
HWC: Sepia
Winsor & Newton: Aureolin, Indigo, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue, WinsorGreen (Yellow Shade)
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1 Apply the First Background Wash
Apply masking where the lightest parts of the dog's fur meet the background. Next, using the larger hake, wet the entire surface with water, then apply diluted Aureolin at the top of the painting. Apply Burnt Sienna on the bottom part with the smaller hake. Let this dry.
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Need More Realism? Think Value
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| As you already know, it takes more than one element to create a representational painting. One of the most important elements to create the illusion of a three-dimensional image is value. Simply put, light values advance and dark values recede.
Playing up the value to create the illusion of a realistic image is
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exactly the same when painting something small, such as a little bird's eye, or something very large, such as an elephant's body. Some images will be more complicated than others, but how far you want to take your painting is up to you. How realistic and to what level of detail you plan for your painting will determine how many steps you will need to create the painting. |
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2 Apply the Second Background Wash
Apply the same colors for the second background wash using thicker, stronger Aureolin and Burnt Sienna. This application starts to separate the dog from the background. Let this dry.
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3 Apply a Cooling Wash
Wet the entire surface with water, then apply Prussian Blue over the whole background. Use a dry hake to feather blue toward the dog to avoid a hard edge between it and the background.
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4 Establish Depth
In order to better define the space the dog is in--an open field--use aerial perspective in the background to give the composition some depth. You can always change it later if it doesn't work the way you want.
Apply a mixture of Indigo, Sepia and Winsor Green at the top of the painting for the sky using a no. 16 round. Then, feather out the bottom edge of the sky area application with a clean, damp brush. Add a little gravel to the ground with a no. 4 round using a mixture of previously used leftover colors.
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5 Develop the Background further
Apply masking on the new gravel to save the highlights. Then, use a no. 15 round with previously used leftover colors to glaze distant mountains to suggest a break between the sky and ground. After the mountains dry, prepare a diluted mixture of Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Sepia and Indigo. Wet the background with clean water before using a dry 2-1/2-inch (89cmm) hake to apply a concentrated mixture of paint on the top and bottom parts of the painting to darken them. The darkened background will push you to make the main subject strong enough to stand out against its dark surroundings.
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6 Apply the First Glaze on the Subject
Use small amounts of Aureolin, Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Sienna to make various combinations for glazing the shaded areas of the dog using nos. 8 and 10 rounds. Glaze these areas section by section rather than all at once. Apply a second glaze if you want the areas to be darker after the first glaze dries. This undercoat will be the light part of the subject.
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7 Apply the Second Glaze on the Subject
Use Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Sepia with a no. 6 round to glaze and further darken the shaded areas and around some of the gravel near the front paws.
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8 Apply a Cooling Glaze on the dog
Using a no. 16 round, apply a very light coat of Prussian Blue on the dog, avoiding the highlight areas. Use a diluted mixture of dark colors--Indigo, Permanent Alizarine Crimson and Sepia--to create a slight texture on the upper background. Use the glazing technique to add darker details here and there to improve the harmony of the painting. Stand back, look at the painting and consider whether the added darks are enough to make it ready for you to add the final details.
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9 Improve the Background
Before finishing a painting, you may find it necessary to make small changes to your original plan. In this case, I decided to change the upper background, softening it to give a better feeling that the dog is in an open space. Using an old chopped brush, apply the same mixture of dark colors from step 8 in a stamping manner, alternating the density of the paint. Glazing with the same dark mixture, start to develop the darker areas of the dog and the foreground.
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"Noorung-ee" - Watercolor on Arches 140-lb. (300gsm) cold press, 21" x 29" (53cm x 74cm)
10 Add Final Details
Remove all the masking. Define the fur by using a choppy dry-brush technique with nos. 6 and 8 rounds. For the lighter areas, use a thinned mixture of Permanent Alizarine Crimson, Burnt Sienna and Sepia. For the darker areas, add Indigo to this mixture.
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Detail
For the dog's nose, eye, and mouth, add Prussian Blue and Indigo to the mixture to make bluish black, and alternate the same brushes to detail the face.
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Create Texture with Gradating Values
This demonstration-project is from the book, "Painting Vibrant Watercolors: Discover the magic of light, color and contrast" by Soon Y. Warren, published by North Light Books an imprint of F + W Media, Inc. Reprinted with permission of the artist and publisher. All steps and text included.
Read the about Soon Y. Warren's book on Amazon
Visit Soon Warren's Website
All Art and Text Copyright 2012 Soon Y. Warren. All Rights Reserved. - Please Respect Copyrights
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